Aircraft nacelles typically include structural panels. Various portions of the nacelle may comprise a structural panel, such as in the exhaust nozzle and in the nozzle center body. The structural panels include a core positioned between a top sheet and a back skin. The core includes a plurality of cells. The structural panels provide a strong and lightweight component which may be formed in various shapes, including in an annular ring, or barrel.
The structural panels may be coupled to adjacent panels with an attachment feature. The top skin and the back skin may be butt welded to the attachment feature. However, it may be difficult to align both the top skin and the back skin with the attachment feature. One side of the structural panel may be shimmed to align with the attachment feature. However, manufacturing tolerances in the structural panel and the attachment feature may result in the other side of the structural panel being misaligned with the attachment feature.